[World] Putin: Ending Syrian war takes priority over al-Assad's fate

Putin: Ending Syrian war takes priority over al-Assad's fate
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57560187/putin-wary-but-admits-change-needed-in-syria/
(CNN) -- Russia declared Thursday that its goal is to end the bloody conflict in Syria, not help the nation's embattled president cling to power at all costs.

UN warns of foreign influx into sectarian Syria war
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/un-warnsforeign-influx-into-sectarian-syria-war_797903.html
By Justyna Pawlak and Stephanie Nebehay. BRUSSELS/GENEVA | Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:45am EST. BRUSSELS/GENEVA (Reuters) - Fighters from around the world have filtered into Syria to join a civil war that has split along sectarian lines, increasingly ...

South Korea Elects First Female President
http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-media-project-park-as-next-president/1567778.html
SEOUL - Conservative Saenuri [New Frontier] Party candidate Park Geun-hye has made history by winning South Korea's presidential election, becoming the country's first female president-elect after defeating liberal rival Moon Jae-in of the Democratic ...

Libya attacks review singles out ambassador
http://www.smh.com.au/world/libya-attacks-review-singles-out-ambassador-20121220-2bpc7.html
WASHINGTON: Three State Department officials resigned on Wednesday after an independent panel severely criticised the ''grossly inadequate'' security arrangements at a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

Poll: Americans also see chemical weapon 'red line' in Syria
http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Syria-s-new-rebel-chief-seeks-unity-4133548.php
Americans reject an immediate U.S. military intervention in Syria's raging civil war, but are open to the possibility should President Bashar al-Assad's struggling regime use or lose control of its massive stockpile of chemical weapons, according to a new ...

Future MP wants Syria's interior minister tried
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Dec-20/199250-future-mp-wants-syrias-interior-minister-tried.ashx
BEIRUT: Syria's interior minister, who was recently admitted to a Beirut hospital, should be tried for war crimes, a lawmaker in Lebanon's Future Movement said in remarks published Thursday.

Ailing Iraq president arrives in Germany for treatment
http://www.brecorder.com/world/middle-east/96986.html
BAGHDAD/BERLIN | Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:16am EST. BAGHDAD/BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has arrived in Germany for medical treatment, the German government confirmed on Thursday, after he suffered a stroke earlier in the week.

Gujarat's divisive leader scores resounding victory at state elections
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/20/gujarat-leader-victory-state-elections
Hindu nationalists have won a resounding victory in state elections in western India, buttressing the political strength of Narendra Modi, the polarising Hindu ideologue whose supporters believe could become prime minister in 2014.

Hollande Calls France's Algerian Rule Brutal; No Apology
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/20/francois-hollande-algerian-suffering-french
French President Francois Hollande called France's 132-year colonial rule in Algeria “brutal and unjust,” stopping short of an outright apology, as he seeks to improve relations that have been troubled ever since the North African country won its ...

China Measures Its Step, Report Says
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324907204578187370325884606.html
TOKYOâ€"China's recent dispatch of vessels to waters near disputed islands held by Japan is part of a long-term strategy to end Tokyo's "effective control" of the rocky crags, a Japanese government military researcher said.

Owner of Ikea monkey in court to have 'Darwin' returned
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/owner-of-ikea-monkey-in-court-to-have-darwin-returned-1.1086467
OSHAWA -- A judge in Oshawa, Ont., is to hear a motion today on whether a Japanese macaque monkey named Darwin should be returned to a Toronto woman.

China Arrests 1000 in Doomsday Cult
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2012/12/chinese-mayan-doomsday-cult.html
It's a good thing Chinese authorities have arrested 1,000 members of a doomsday cult, at least now they'll have some time to think about the logic behind this end of the world scenario.

Moscow court cuts sentences of ex-Yukos chief Khodorkovsky and partner ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20798017
MOSCOW - The Moscow City Court has reduced the prison sentences of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner by two years, which means they will be released in 2014.

Govt pressing for deterrent punishment for gang-rape accused
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-gang-rape-human-rights-panel-issues-notice-to-home-ministry-delhi-police-commissioner-306986
Against the backdrop of the barbaric gang-rape incident here, Government today said it is pressing for punishment for the accused so that it becomes a deterrent for others.

Yemen president sacks Saleh's military cronies
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Dec-20/199254-yemen-president-sacks-salehs-military-cronies.ashx
SANAA: President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has dramatically restructured Yemen's military to curb the influence of those linked to toppled strongman Abdullah Ali Saleh with the strong backing of Yemen's Gulf neighbours.